From
the perspective of policy analysis, since the 1960s, the development of British
higher education has gone through a period when the mode of higher education
changed from traditional to modern and from elite to mass. New era of
management system reform; Diversification and deepening reform period of higher
education; Facing the development period of higher education in the 21st
century, there are four periods. In different stages of development, higher education
policies have played an important role and reflected different characteristics.

The
UK is one of the first countries in the world to implement higher education.
Since the 1960s, a series of important higher education policy texts have been
issued, which have exerted a profound impact on the development of higher
education in the UK. This article selects the four landmark text, from the
perspective of policy text analysis, according to the policy, motivation and
background, policy, policy implementation, and evaluation, the framework of the
four stages of British higher education reform and development of a historic
comb, in order to provide experience and inspiration of the development of
higher education of our country.

The
landmark policy text of the first phase was the 1963 higher education: report
of the committee chaired by Lord Robbins appointed by the prime minister from
1961 to 1963, or Robbins report for short.

At
this stage, the direction of British higher education policy is the goal and
educational policy of higher education. "Robbins report" pointed out:
the goal of higher education is to change the tradition of cultivating
missionaries, judges, lawyers and doctors, and provide people with the skills
and talents they need to compete in social life. The policy of the country runs
a school is to make those who have ability, conditional, the person that has
desire to accept higher education obtains the opportunity that accepts higher
education above all. The British higher education began to move towards the
common class. The education system also bid farewell to the traditional
aristocratic mode and entered the mode of modernization, democratization and
diversification. Students of different genders, classes and RACES, as well as
adult students, part-time students and disabled students enter the university
campus, which has become the best symbol of the democratization and diversity
of education. British higher education has gradually opened the door only to
elites.

The
proportion of girls who accepted higher BBBS doubled from 25% to 50% in the
1996-1997 academic year, compared with the 1960s. Ethnic minority students aged
18-20 years account for 12.2% of the total number of students; Disabled
students account for 3.6% of the total number of full-time students, part-time
students account for 28% of the total number of students, and adult students
account for 58%. Among the social strata, 36% are managerial and above, 34% are
white-collar workers, and 30% are industrial workers and below. After the publication
of "Robbins report", spurred by its "Robbins principle",
the British government adopted the policy of linking the number of students
with education funds to encourage colleges and universities to expand
enrollment and create new institutions of higher learning, which pushed the
higher education into the fast track of scale expansion. In the 1997-98
academic year, the number of people receiving higher education increased from
120,000 in 1963 to 1.7 million, the number of institutions of higher learning
increased from 30 to 190, and the enrollment rate of relevant age groups
increased from 8% to 32%. In addition, the "Robbins principle"
attracts more and more young students from continental Europe, Africa and the
far east, laying the foundation for the internationalization of British higher
education.

The
Robbins report is the prediction and planning of the development of higher
education in Britain from the 1960s to the mid-1980s. Reporting system is
expounded about the goals and principles of higher education, in 1962 the
British higher education present situation, the UK higher education compared
with other countries of the situation, the forecast for the future development
of higher education and the idea, funding, management mechanism and the responsibility
of the various departments, and a series of UK higher education reform and
development faces significant problems. In the following 30 years, British
higher education has undergone profound changes from the school policy, system
design and development strategy, to the funding investment mechanism,
management and operation mechanism, as well as the establishment, scale,
monitoring and evaluation of universities. The government did not fully accept
the report's recommendations. "proposals for the creation of six
universities and the establishment of five special institutes of science and
technology were rejected.

The
second phase was marked by the enactment of the education reform act of 1988.
The bill is the most drastic change to education in Britain since the education
reform act of 1944.

At
this stage, the direction of the UK's higher education reform is the management
system and the allocation of education funds. Traditionally, the UK has
recognised universities as independent and autonomous institutions, not
directly under the central government and with limited influence through the
university grants committee. In addition, institutions of higher learning that
are not part of the "public" part of the university are managed by
local education authorities. In terms of education funding, British higher
education funding mainly comes from public funding channels, and education
funding is allocated through the "university funding committee" which
is relatively independent from the government, which leads to the dependence of
colleges and universities on government funding and aggravates the financial
burden of the government.

Since
the education reform law was enacted in 1988, the unified leadership of the
central government has been strengthened. We improved the allocation method of
higher education funding, reorganized the central university funding committee
into the university funding committee and the multi-disciplinary and technical
college funding committee, respectively responsible for the corresponding
allocation of funding, and encouraged multiple sources of funding. At the same
time, the British government encourages and advocates the link between
universities and society, and plays the role of higher education in promoting
economic and technological development. "The curriculum and teaching
contents should be socialized and applied. While helping enterprises solve
practical problems, teachers should also be rewarded with substantial benefits.
The rewards teachers receive in scientific research achievements and production
practices of enterprises outside the school shall be owned by the teachers
themselves. In this way, teachers' initiative to participate in practice, in
turn, provides convenience and possibility for imparting the latest knowledge
and technology. At the same time, the 1988 education reform law abolished
lifetime tenure for newly hired university teachers.

In
terms of objectives, the education reform law of 1988 lays particular emphasis
on serving economic development more effectively and establishing closer ties
with the business community. In terms of education, it is suggested to expand
enrollment, plan to increase the enrollment rate of female and over-age
students, and make entrance exams flexible and diverse. In terms of education
institutional structure, the authority of local education bureaus was
abolished, university funding committees were abolished, and university funding
committees and multi-disciplinary technical colleges and other college funding
committees were established. According to McLean, "every reform of the
education reform act fundamentally changes education practices that have
persisted for a long time since at least the 1960s. The extent of this change
can be measured by outlining each provision in the context of practice over the
past 25 years. Various reforms have caused varying degrees of response, among
which the biggest response is to abolish the tenure system for newly hired
university teachers. This reform program has the fundamental characteristics of
changing higher education, and is "a major shift of education focus in
Britain after the war". It is generally regarded as the most radical
education reform in Britain in this century.

The
third stage was marked by the publication on 23 July 1997 of the "higher
education in learning societies" advisory report, the deerying report.

At
this stage, the direction of higher education is the diversity of education
institutions and the establishment of a new education funding mechanism. The
Deere English report to support the diversity between institutions of higher
education, and think this diversity to meet after the expansion of higher
education enrollment scale of student group, to fulfill the diversified demands
of proposal should reflect the diversity in terms of funding needs, and give
support for this kind of demand, but diversity never means to reduce the
standard or quality. In the deerying report, 22 of the many proposals on the
reform of the UK's higher education are aimed at the funding of education. For
example, it is suggested to broaden the sources of education funding. Establish
a new mechanism for raising higher education funds.

Set
up a new mechanism for raising funds for higher education. The government
further increased the investment in the higher education, established the
industrial cooperative development fund, and attracted funds from the
industrial sector to finance the higher education; Charging tuition fees from
the 1998 academic year; The government, funding agencies, quality assurance
agency, universities and scientific research institutions have further
strengthened cooperation, adjusted the flow of funds through legislation,
evaluation and other means, reformed the funding conditions and project
management mode, and improved the use efficiency of education funds. The
function of the higher education quality assurance agency has been
strengthened. The quality assurance department is responsible for the
management of quality assurance, public information, standard recognition and
certificate framework, and for the development of operable standards for higher
education institutions to apply for government funding; The role of higher
education in local and regional development has been strengthened. Institutions
of higher learning support local development through scientific research and
consultation, meet the needs of the labor market for professionals, attract
investment and provide new employment opportunities, support the lifelong
learning needs of local communities and contribute to improving people's
quality of life as cultural centers. Local governments and businesses are
committed to helping students and teachers in institutions of higher learning
develop entrepreneurial capacities that enable them to better serve the local
community.

Deerying
report has drawn up the blueprint for the UK's higher education in the 21st
century, proposed the main contradictions and problems existing at present, and
made the main measures to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Deerying
report believes that since the publication of Robbins report, external factors
have a profound impact on the development of higher education in the UK, and
these external factors will have a greater impact on the development of higher
education in the next 20 years. Science and technology and political factors
have accelerated the pace of world economic integration. With the enhancement
of economic competition, education and training have attracted more and more
attention. Economic development relies more and more on knowledge. Economic
development requires higher education to cultivate more technical,
knowledgeable and comprehensive talents, so as to promote the development of
scientific research. Undoubtedly, the deerying report is widely regarded as the
first comprehensive review and reflection of the British higher education and
the outline document of strategic thinking for future development since the
Robbins report.

The
landmark text of the fourth stage is the higher education white paper -- the
future of higher education published in 2003, which is an important part of the
national development strategy formulated by the British government in the 21st
century to face the knowledge-based economy, society and globalization.

In
this stage, building first-class research and ensuring first-class teaching
level is the primary policy direction of the British government's higher
education. As the white paper puts it: "research lays the foundation for
innovation in the long run and is central to economic growth, productivity and
quality of life". And emphasize that the research here is not only refers
to science and technology research, social science and the arts and humanities
research can also benefit economic development. In addition, a solid research
foundation can help Britain keep pace with international development and
participate in international competition and cooperation. The white paper
points out that teaching is at the core of achieving higher education goals.
Colleges and universities should further study the essence and methods of
teaching to ensure the improvement of teaching level. Teachers with high
teaching quality should be rewarded accordingly. It is the right of all
students to receive a high level of education. They have the right and need to
know as much as possible about the major they choose and the school they
attend.

The
government will increase research programmes by 1.25bn in 2005-2006;
Encouraging cooperative research; Increasing investment in first-class
departments and universities; Support new research projects; Reward researchers
for outstanding contributions; Create a new arts and humanities research
council. The government will continue to support and encourage higher education
institutions in collaboration with the industrial and commercial sectors;
Establishing partnerships between institutions of higher learning and local
authorities; Promote the integration of business and university related
departments. Additional funding will be allocated to modernise teaching and
reward outstanding teachers and students for establishing a new national body
to improve teaching - the teaching quality institute. To provide students from
different family backgrounds, especially children from low-income families with
the opportunity to accept higher education. The government will continue to be
the main funder of universities, but universities themselves have more freedom
to absorb new investment channels, and the government encourages multi-channel
investment.

The
future of higher education is another big reform of higher education after the
thatcher era. It changed from "reduce education input -- marketization --
charge -- expansion of scale and economic orientation" in thatcher's era
to "increase education input -- marketization -- increase of charge standard
-- expansion of scale and national competitiveness orientation". It is
conceivable that this new policy will play a greater role. It not only
emphasizes marketization, but also increases government input. Education
resources will be increased and enriched in an unprecedented way, which will
directly affect the future of higher education in Britain. At the same time,
the white paper takes the measures of key construction to ensure the
popularization of higher education, and at the same time to develop first-class
research and teaching by funding research universities and first-class
departments and establishing high-quality teaching promotion centers. The white
paper stresses improving the quality of higher education, strengthening links
with the economic community and enhancing Britain's competitiveness. It is
advocated that colleges and universities should improve their research
capabilities, open more scientific and technological enterprises, provide
technical support and consulting services to more enterprises, and offer
vocational oriented basic degree courses.